Raiders outwork Pioneers to gain 0-0 tie

Contrary to the perception of zero-zero ties, North Farmington and host Dearborn played a pretty entertaining game in boys soccer Thursday.

“It was a fun game,” Raiders coach Mike Horner said. “One of the parents said, ‘Boy, that was the most exciting scoreless game I’ve ever seen.’

“There were a lot of good plays on both sides and just really stingy defense. I was pleased with the result.”

And for good reason. The Pioneers are undefeated with a 4-0-4 record. The Raiders are 4-3-1 going into a Friday night game with visiting Walled Lake Western.

“It was a good result for us,” Horner said. “We outhustled them most of the game, and that was difference that allowed us to keep them off the scoreboard.”

Horner was very happy with the play of North defenders David Castelvetere, Spencer Sharp and Nate Elby.

“(The Pioneers) have some fast forwards and they did a good job of holding the line in back and not giving them a lot of space behind us to roam around free,” he said.

North goalie Paul Thornton made two saves, as did Dearborn’s Owen Cartwright. There were only four shots on goal in 80 minutes of soccer.

“That doesn’t describe how hard the goalies had to work,” Horner said. “There were a lot of corner kick opportunities and long balls coming in that both had to come out and play. Both did a nice job for each side.”

Defensive midfielders Jay Shoberg and Kyle George shut down the middle of the field and made it happen for the Raiders, Horner added.

“I can’t count the number of times they stopped the ball and played it back out and got our offense going,” he said. “They did an excellent job of stopping the other team’s attack and starting our own.

“It was just difficult for either team to score, because both teams were making good passes and moving the ball down the field. Both defenses did a terrific job of stopping the offenses’ thrusts.”

North had a great scoring chance near the end of the game. Sam Zapata took a through ball from Alex George on the left side and sent a hard shot across the face of the net.

Frank Zak, who was attacking from the right and crashing the far post, came within inches of getting a tap on it.

The Pioneers went down the field and nearly scored. One of their forwards fired a “cannon” shot at the net.

“It just missed but it was scary,” Horner said. “After 79 minutes and 55 seconds, I didn’t want to lose the game.”

The Raiders substituted frequently to keep fresh legs on the field. Everybody played and worked real hard for North, he added.

“I told them after the game, ‘This is the type of team we have to be,’” Horner said. “We have to outwork people. We can’t just go out there and say, ‘Look at us,’ and beat them.

“I think Dearborn was definitely the more talented team overall, but we outworked them and got the result we did.”

Trojans rally to win

Clarenceville High School (3-4) survived a tough game with visiting Riverside Academy and emerged victorious Thursday evening, 2-1.

After a scoreless first half, the Trojans had to overcome a 1-0 deficit. Armin Andelija tied the score and Dante Marzolo got the winning goal from Gerardo Arzate.